Cigarette cases



Feb. 10, 1959 WING G. CHENG CIGARETTE CASES Filed Feb. 20, 1957 12 51 y57 'la' /IZ IN VENTOR h//Iy Gee Ceng United States Patent `O 'CIGARETTEy'CA-SES Wing G. Cheng, Kwloon,'H0ng Kong Application February 20, 1957,Serial No. 641,413

`Claims priority, application Great Britain September 17, 1956 Thisinvention relates to cigarette cases of the kind having a deliveryaperture in one end-of the case, means for successivelypressingcigarettes in the case into alignment with the delivery aperture andmeans operable without opening the case for ejectingthe ,cigarettealigned with the delivery aperture through the said aperture. The objectof the invention isto provide a cigarette case of the above kind withsimple, compact and reliable means for successively feeding thecigarettes into the delivery position and ejecting thevcigarettes whenrequired through the delivery aperture.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one construction ofcigarette case inadein accordance with the invention V Fig. 1 is a planview having the case in the open position, the cover part of the casingbeing broken.

Fig. 2 is an underneathplan view vof an assembly plate tted in thecasing.

Fig. 3 is a section through the case when closed.

Fig. 4 is aplanview of the right hand part of Fig. l partly 'brokenawayI to show certain constructional details.

The cigarette case shown in the drawings comprises a casing made in twosymmetrical substantially rectangular halves 10, 11 of which 10 formsthe cover andll the body of the case. The two parts 10, 11 have roundedcorners, and are formed around the marginal edges with shallowupstanding'flanges 12, one anged edge 12 of one part being hingeablyconnected by a hinged connec-l tion 13 to the corresponding hanged edge12 of the Other part so as to form when closed a relatively thin casecapable of containing for example ten cigarettes 14, only -six of whichare shown in Fig. l. One flanged edge 12 (referred to hereafter as thetop ange) lof each casing half is formed immediately adjacent the sideedgedoppo-` site to the hinged connection 13 with a semi-circular recess15 or 16, the two recesses 15, 16 coinciding, when the case is closed,to form a delivery aperture for the cigarettes 14 contained in the case.A second semi-circular recess 17 or 18 is also formed in the same topange 12 of each casing part adjacent to the hinged connection 13, thesetwo recesses 17, 18 coinciding when the case is closed to form acircular aperture to receive the end of an operating rod 19 describedmore fully hereafter. The two halves of the casing are secured in theclosed position by a hook-shaped catch 20 fixed centrally to the f'2,873,046 ce H Patented Feb. 10, 1959 of the assembly plate remote fromthe hinged side of the hinged connection 13 is simply pressed upwards,i. e. it

anged edge 12 of the cover on the side thereof Vremote 23 suitablydimensioned so as to lit snugly into the body.

11 of the casing, the two longitudinal sides and the edge is notoutwardly turned. When the operating mechanism now to be described hasbeen mounted on the plate 23 Vthe latter is placed on three supportingblocks 24, 25, 26 `suitably spaced in and secured, for example, byplastic or gum to the inner surface of the body 11 of the casing. Eachsupporting block has a tapped aperture to receive a screw 27, 28 or 29,these screws being passed respectively through corresponding apertures30, 31, 32 in the plate 23 and screwed into the tapped apertures in theblocks.

The assembly plate is formed substantially centrally of its width withtwo slots 33, 34 separated by a narrow strip 35 and extending throughoutthe greater part of the length of the plate, the slot '33 being utilisedto guide the movement of a spring-pressed pusher member 35. This pushermember consists of a metal strip slightly concave in transverse crosssection and turned up from a base plate 36 to the lower surface of whichand in spaced relationship thereto is riveted or otherwise secured aguide strip 37, the side edges of which slidably engage the lowersurface of the plate 23 on opposite sides of the guide slot 33. The edgeof the guide stripv37 which faces the hinged connection 13 is connectedto one end of a coiled tension spring 38, the opposite end of which isconnected to the lower surface of the assembly plate at a cornerthereof. adjacent the recess 16 in the case.

The operating rod 19 above referred to is slidably mounted in two guides40, 41 consisting of tongues pressed out upwardly from the top surfaceof the plate 23 and perpendicular thereto, these `two tongues beingdisposed in spaced relationship one below the other at the side of theplate adjacent to the hinged connection 13 and being suitably aperturedto receive the rod 19. One end of the operating rod is of enlargeddiameter and projects through the circular aperture in the casing formedby the two recesses 17, 18 in the manner of a press button. The otherend of the rod 19 bears against one arm of an L-shaped plate or bracket42 which projects through `an aperture 43 in the assembly plate, theother arm of the L-shaped plate (see Fig. 2) being slidably mountedonthe lower surface of the assembly plate and connected to the short armof a pivotally mounted twoarmed lever 44 (referred to hereafter as theejector lever) ,the longer arm of which extends along the lower surfaceof the plate 23 so that the other end thereof, which terminates in atongue 45 pressed out` from the arm so as to be perpendicular thereto isaligned with the delivery aperture in the casing formed when the case isclosed by the two recesses 15, 16, the tongue 45 being disposed (seeFig. l) immediately underneath the end of the cigarette in the casewhich is aligned with the delivery aperture so as to be movable in arecess 46 formed in the plate 23.

The projecting arm of the L-shaped plate 42 above described constitutesan abutment for one end of a coil spring 47 disposed co-axially with theoperating rod and mounted at its other end on a pin 48 riveted to theadjacent anged side of the plate 23 so that this latter endl of thespring bears against the ange of the side referred to.

In Iorder to enable the case to be charged with ciga rettes without thisoperation being impeded by the pusher member 35 means are provided fortemporarily holding this pusher member against the action of its spring38 in a position in which it does not exert any pressure on thecigarettes as they are placed in the case. These holding means comprisea spring-pressed pawl 50 pivotally mounted lon the plate 23 adjacent thehinged connection 13 and arranged to engage a shoulder 51 on the baseplate 36 of the pusher member When the latter is moved against itsspring 38 into the inoperative position (shown in dotted lines in Fig.2) and means operating automatically when-the case is closed to releasethe pawl 50 from the shoulder 51. These automatically operating releasemeans comprise a second two-armed lever 52 (referred to hereafter as thepawl release lever) pivotally mounted at 49 on the lower surface of theplate 23 and connected at one end to one end of a movable pin 53 passingthrough an elongated slot 54 in the plate, so as to project from the topsurface thereof. The projecting end of this movable pin 53 is connectedto one end of a coil spring 54 (referred to hereafter as the releaselever return spring) extending from one side of the movablel pin, theother end of this spring 54' being anchored to another pin 55 fixed tothe top surface of the plate 23. The movable pin 53 also has connected.to it one end of a second coil spring 56 (referred to hereafter as thepawl release spring) disposed on the opposite side of the movable pin 53to that from which the release lever return spring 54 extends, the otherend of this pawl release spring 56 being connected to the pawl 50 on theside of the pivot pin thereof which is remote from the end of the pawlwhich engages the shoulder 51.

The free end of the lever 52 is outwardly turned as shown at 52', thisoutwardly turned end 52 being arranged to bear on the end of a strip 57formed at its opposite end with the locking tongue 21 above described.This strip 57 is slidably mounted ina guide way formed 'between theupturned edge of the plate 23 at the delivery side thereof and an anglestrip 58 (see Fig. 2) riveted to the lower surface of the plate 23 sothat one side of this angle strip extends along and parallel with butspaced apart from the upturned side edge referred to of the plate. Thelocking tongue 21 extends perpendicularly to the strip 57 so as to beslidable over a closed slot 58 formed in the flanged edge 232 of theplate 23, this slot 58 being disposed above and co-extensive with therectangular recess 22 formed on one flanged side of the |body 11 of thecasing. The tongue 21 co-operates with the hooked catch 20 `on the otherhalf of the casing to lock the two parts of the casing in the closedposition. The arrangement is such that one end of the pawl release lever52 is pressed by its spring 54 on to the end of the release strip 57remote from the tongue 21 and holds-it 1n a position in which the tonguepartly obturates the closed slot 58 in the outwardly turned edge 232 ofthe plate 23. The hooked catch 20 is formed with a curved `side edge andis so disposed relatively to the tongue 21 that when the 4case is beingclosed the curved edge first enters that part of the slot 58 which isnot covered by the tongue. On being pressed into the closed position thecatch presses against the tongue and moves it outwards in a directionwhich causes the strip 57 to slide in its guideway in a direction to acton the end of the lever 52, thereby rotating it around its pivot 49 andmoving the movable pin 53 in its slot 54 in a direction to rock the pawl50 around its pivot and. release the pawl from the shoulder 51 on thebase plate 36, whereupon the pusher member 35 moves under the action ofits spring so as to press against the cigarettes 14 on the plate 23 inthe casing, this spring pressure tending to move the cigarettes to thedelivery position. The pawl 5t) is thus actuated automatically when thecase is closed `to release the pusher member 35. In order to re-engagethe pawl with the pusher member when 11e-loading the case withcigarettes, it is moved manually into the position of engagement.

'The operating rod 19, the pawl 50, the movable pin 53 and the springs54, 56 associated therewith are preferably enclosed in a box-like casing60 screwed at opposite ends respectively into the pin 55 and into asecond pin 61 riveted to the plate 23.

When the casing is closed vafter having been recharged .4 withcigarettes, the catch 21 on the part 10 is inserted into the closed slot5S in the plate 23, after the tongue 21 on the release strip 57 has beenmoved away from the slot, and pressure on the tongue 21 is thenreleased, whereupon it moves back under the pressure exerted by thespring 54 acting on the pawl release lever 52 to engage the catch 21 andretain it in the locked position.

Cigarettes loaded into the case can now be readily removed withoutopening the case by simply depressing the projecting end of theoperating rod 19, which operates the ejector lever 44 so that the tongue4S at the end of the latter is pressed against one end of the cigarettealigned with the delivery aperture and pushes this cigarette out throughthe delivery aperture as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. When oneycigarette has been thus removed the pusher member 35 pressing on theremaining cigarettes moves them collectively towards the delivery sideof the case, so that the next cigarette is in position forI ejectionwhen the operating rod 19 is again depressed, and the operation isrepeated until all the cigarettes have been removed, whereupon the casemust be recharged.

The invention provides a cigarette case from which cigarettes can bereadily and successively removed without opening the case and by simplydepressing the end of the operating rod 19 which end, in the embodimentdescribed, projects from the case in the manner of a press button.

In the embodiment described all the parts are made of metal but at leastsome of the parts may be moulded from plastics.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1 A cigarettecase comprising a casing formed on one side edge with adelivery aperture and made in two substantially symmetrical parts, meansfor hingeably connecting together saidtwo parts along one pair ofadjacently disposed side edges, means located at the pair of side edgesoppositerespectively to those hingeably connected together for fasteningthe two parts of the casing together in the closed position, a platefitted into one of said casing parts on which plate cigarettes loadedinto the case are placed, said fastening means comprising twocomplementary parts, one of which is xed to one edge of one of saidsymmetrical parts of said casing, and the other of which is slidablymounted along an edge of said plate so as to be engageable with said xedpart when the case pis' closed, means mounted on said plate forsuccessively feeding cigarettes placed thereon into alignment with saiddelivery aperture, said feeding means comprising a spring pressed pushermember arranged to bear on the cigarettes on the side thereof mostremote from the delivery aperture, means for retaining said springpressed pusher member in an inoperative position on the side of thecasing remote from the delivery side thereof in order to enablecigarettes to be readily loaded into the case between the pusher memberand the delivery side of the case, said retaining means comprising aspring pressed pawl pivotallymounted on said plate and adapted to engageand hold the pusher member in the inoperative position, and means forreleasing said retaining means, said'release means comprising a twoarmed release lever one end` of which is operatively connected to saidspring pressed pawl and the other end of which is disposed in the pathof said slidably mounted part of said fastening means so as to beautomatically actuated by said slidably mounted part when 'said case isclosed to move the pawl against its spring pressure in a direction torelease the pawl from the pusher member, and ejector means also mountedon said plate and operable when it is desired to Withdraw a cigarettefrom the case to project thc cigarette in line with the deliveryaperture through this aperture so that it can be readily withdrawn fromthe case.

2. A cigarette case according to claim l in which said pivotally mountedpawl is carried on the upper side of said plate and said release leveris carried on the lower side of said plate, theconnection between saidlever and said pawl comprising a pin connected to said lever, said pinbeing movably mounted in an aperture in said plate, and a springconnected at one end to said pin and at the other end to said pawl.

3. A cigarette case according to claim 1 in which said pivotally mountedpawl is carried on the upper side of said plate and said release leveris carried on the lower side of said plate the connection between saidlever and said pawl comprising a pin connected to said lever, said pinbeing movably mounted in an aperture in said plate, and a springconnected at one end to said pin and at References Cited in the le ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Stone Jan. 18, 1916 Denemark Sept. 17,1918

